Jason Grace and the Many Dilemmas of Becoming a Father
by Ice Krystal
Summary: Jason Grace was prepared for anything. He was the son of Jupiter, once a praetor of the Twelfth Legion, slayer of the Trojan sea monster, leader of the assault on Mount Othrys, destroyer of the Titan Krios and the King of the Giants Porphyrion, a Hero of Olympus and the Champion of Juno. But none of that prepared him for this. He was going to be a father.


**Title:** Jason Grace and the Many Dilemmas of Becoming a Father

 **Genre:** Friendship/Humor

 **Shippings:** Jasper, mentioned Solangelo, Percabeth  & Caleo

 **Words:** 1,273

 **Warnings:** Someone please wash Leo's mind out with soap

 **Author's Notes:** I decided to write this mainly for practice with third person. I decided I wanted to focus on Jason, and the Jason-Nico friendship just exploded from there. I really love their bromance. But anyways, I may continue practicing third person by writing PJO/HoO and TKC oneshots, who knows!

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Jason Grace was prepared for anything. He was the son of Jupiter, once a praetor of the Twelfth Legion, slayer of the Trojan sea monster, leader of the assault on Mount Othrys, destroyer of the Titan Krios and the King of the Giants Porphyrion, a Hero of Olympus and the Champion of Juno. But none of that prepared him for _this_.

It had only been a month since his wife, Piper, had told him she was pregnant. And in that month, Jason's entire world had been turned upside down. Okay, it wasn't like they were too young for this or anything. They were both _twenty-seven_. But they hadn't actually, you know, _talked about having kids_ even after being married for two years.

"...Jason? Are you even _listening_?"

He snapped out of his ruminating thoughts, and realized that Nico had been talking to him. Most people found it strange that he and Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, were such good friends, but after a certain event that happened in Rome about eleven or so years ago during the war with Gaea, they both began to trust each other, and a friendship was born.

"I take that as a _no_ ," Nico deadpanned as no words had come out of Jason's mouth in response. "Everyone's a bit worried about you, you know. You've been acting weird lately."

...Had he really been acting so strange? Now that he thought about it, maybe he had been a little spacey in the last Argo II reunion party—which Jason felt were a moot point now, seeing as everyone lived in New Rome in the general vicinity and saw each other every day.

Jason grimaced, reaching to push up his glasses. "Well… Can I tell you something? You can't tell _anyone_ else."

If somehow this spread just from him telling one person, Piper would kill him. That would be his fate, not killed by monsters or a jealous goddess— _death by Piper_.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Does it look like people come to me for gossip?"

"You can't even tell _Will_."

"Why would I even—whatever, _fine_." Nico scowled, his cheeks not so subtly tinting pink at the mention of his fiancé. "What _is_ it?"

Jason glanced around, making sure no one was too close in the café that they were meeting in. Then he leaned a little closer to his friend, who gave him a very baffled look. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he whispered the answer.

"...Piper's pregnant."

Nico just stared at him blankly as he moved back in his seat. Jason wasn't sure if he was shocked, dumbfounded, or simply didn't know how to respond to the reveal. But the words that did finally come out of Nico's mouth were not what Jason was prepared for.

"…That was faster than expected."

"What's… _that_ supposed to mean?"

Nico picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip of it. "Will and Leo have been betting on who will have the first baby out of all of you. They both agreed that it would be Percy and Annabeth." He set down his cup. "...When Calypso found out about the bets, she smacked them both and told them to get their heads out of the gutter."

...That reminded Jason of when Leo told him Calypso flipped out when she found out that he let everyone think he was dead. If it wasn't for her, Leo probably wouldn't have come back to them so quickly. Piper's reaction hadn't been pretty either; she had yelled at Leo and ended up slapping him, and Hazel had apparently thought it was a good idea too, because she slapped Leo, too.

The entire time, Jason had just thought… _Rest in pieces, Leo._

He sighed. "Is it really that surprising?

"Considering that everyone considered you two the model couple at Camp Half-Blood… I have to say _yes_." But then Nico paused. "But what's got you so out of it can't just be that."

...Well, of course there was a lot more to Jason's discombobulation. He had been trying to avoid thinking about it, because the more he did, the more conflicted he became. Part of him was happy to start a family with Piper, but the other part of him didn't think he could be a good father.

For one, he didn't have any good examples of parental figures. While Jupiter wasn't nearly as bad as Zeus, he still wasn't a great father figure. And his mother… well, that was best left unsaid. The negative part of him worried that he would somehow turn into a terrible father, and he really, really did not want that. What were good fathers even _like_?

"...What if I'm a lousy father? What if I end up being like _my_ father?"

Nico was quiet for a moment. Jason recognized the thoughtful look on his face; most people though his expression always stayed the same, but after knowing someone for such a long time, you could pick up on the very faint changes.

"We have to deal with that a lot, don't we?" he sighed. "Especially us, the children of the Big Three. Everyone shoves expectations on us. They all think we'll be like our fathers. You, me, Percy, Thalia... Hazel doesn't get it as much since Pluto's role in the Roman pantheon is different. Everyone used to be scared of me. I thought I had no place in either camp, as the son of Hades… but look what happened." He met Jason's gaze. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that just because you're Jupiter's son, it doesn't mean you're going to end up a certain way. I'm sure you're going to be an awesome father, Jason."

For a moment, Jason was speechless. Whoa… That was seriously the most Nico had ever said at once before. And yes, that was all he could think about at first, until his words settled in.

Yeah… Nico was right. He _wasn't_ Jupiter. There was more to him than just being Jupiter's son. He may have no idea how to be a father, but… he'd figure it out eventually. Besides… he had his friends to help him. He and Piper weren't alone in this.

Jason smiled. "Yeah. Thanks, Nico."

Just then, the café door opened, and in stepped Percy. "Hey, there you guys are! Really, a _café_?"

"The coffee is good," Jason said, completely missing the point of his statement.

"You're going to need a lot of coffee," Nico muttered.

"Huh?" Percy asked in confusion. "Why will Jason need coffee?"

Nico waved him off, pushing back his chair and standing up, which made Jason also decide to get up as well. "It's not important. Did you need something, Percy?"

"Uh… Right." Percy continued to look a bit baffled. "Chiron Iris messaged me. Something about satyrs getting too… flute happy? I dunno. He asked me to pick up Grover and bring him down to Camp Half-Blood, but I thought it'd be more fun to bring some friends along."

"Eh… Fine. It'd be nice to see Grover," Nico said, giving a shrug.

"I'll come too," Jason agreed. "But let me try to call Tempest this time. I really am not good at riding pegasi."

Percy laughed. "That's cool with me. Though, I'll whistle Mrs. O'Leary for you, Nico. Will gets mad every time you shadow travel."

Nico grumbled something under his breath. It sounded vaguely like Greek cursing.

Jason smiled. "All right, sounds like we've got everything figured out. Let's head out!"

"Can I _please_ finish my coffee first?" Nico groaned.

Yep… It looked like everything would be perfectly okay.


End file.
